Anthony Daly: This was Kilkenny's most cherished Leinster title in two decades
In my first Leinster final as Dublin manager in 2009, one of the most soul-destroying memories from that narrow defeat was watching Michael Fennelly accept the Bob O’Keeffe trophy in his tracksuit bottoms. Mick wasn’t the first non-playing Kilkenny captain to lift the Leinster title but the whole experience felt even more empty and soulless when I was trying to picture Dublin’s reaction in the same position.
For years, Kilkenny celebrated Leinster titles like getting three stars on a National Lottery scratch card. If it meant anything, they certainly didn’t show it. But four years without Bob O’Keeffe is considered a famine, so Saturday’s win was the most cherished Leinster title Kilkenny have won in over two decades. The reaction from the players afterwards proved as much.
Although Kilkenny and Tipperary contested last year’s All-Ireland final, those post-match images provided another metaphor for how much the hurling landscape has changed in the last few years. Wexford were brilliant Leinster champions last year. They went into this championship as serious All-Ireland contenders but, after two poor performances, their ambitions were emphatically extinguished.
It’s already been such a strange year that fortunes, and emotions, are bound to oscillate wildly. Maybe Kilkenny’s reaction after Saturday’s game was just a huge release from that whole emotional toll. It was also a firm rebuke to those who have said that the championship is soulless and vacant without crowds. If anything, success in the current climate means more than it ever did.
Weather conditions, soft pitches, and the do-or-die nature of a knockout championship have ensured that every inch has to be fought for like it’s your last piece of ground. Eight teams has now become six, which will be pared down to four by next weekend. In such a blitzkrieg championship, the shelling can end your season in a flash.
Cork must still feel concussed after Saturday night. The immediate reaction afterwards was that Cork didn’t use the breeze to their advantage, that they tried to run the ball, risking turnovers in the tackle, when the long-ball option, or the shot from distance, was on. But you saw through Tipp’s poor execution in the first half how difficult it was to strike that balance.
It was always going to be tough for Cork playing into the driving rain and stiff breeze, but when the rain went, the breeze was much more manageable for Tipp. It also suited Tipp’s ability to move the ball through the lines. In that context, a two-point lead at half-time was nowhere near as light for Tipperary as it would have been if the rain and breeze remained as strong as it had been for the opening 35 minutes.
I also felt that Tipp were coming good as the first half progressed. I’m sure too that Liam Sheedy put it up to his main men at the break. They were going to need goals to win and to get two was massive, especially when Jake Morris’ strike left Cork with little or no time to get back up from the canvas.
Sheedy’s changes beforehand worked well too. Dan McCormack and Michael Breen were excellent. Ronan Maher thundered into the match while Seamus Callanan was a huge outlet for diagonal ball in the second half.
Cork will be disappointed when the chance was there but did they run out of gas? They were outscored by 1-4 to 0-2 down the home straight but there was some evidence of that late fall-off against Dublin seven days earlier. Playing three games in 14 days may have diminished their energy levels but when you compare the benches Tipp’s subs were far more effective.
Galway will be another team with regrets but I still think they will have a big say yet in this championship. They got sucker-punched with two goals but, even though they responded to go ahead again, Galway clearly got spooked when Kilkenny got in front with the finishing line in sight. All the negative thoughts Galway had from past experience against Kilkenny probably resurfaced.
You just have to hand it to Brian Cody and his troops. Cody hauled off Colin Fennelly, Walter Walsh and Conor Fogarty, three of his main lieutenants. Richie Hogan’s class and genius was splashed all over his brilliant goal. TJ Reid stepped up with his customary green flag but the victory was another endorsement of Cody’s culture and mantra – never give up.
Saturday was also a massive day for Brian Lohan. I’m delighted for him. It was an ordeal for him to get the job. There were a lot of obstacles put in his way but Lohan took on a tough job because he wanted it for the right reasons. And the players really played for him on Saturday.
It was a huge fighting performance embellished by another outrageous display from Tony Kelly. There’s no other player operating at Kelly’s level at the moment but he got great back-up, especially from Shane O’Donnell, Cathal Malone, Rory Hayes, and goalkeeper Eibhear Quilligan.
For Wexford and Davy Fitz, it’s hard to know where they go next. On the other hand, I know full well what’s it’s like to come off the back of a good season, and charge into the following year full of hope and expectancy. It happened Dublin in 2014 when, after winning the 2013 Leinster title, we completely bombed in two games in 2014.
I already had six seasons done by then and I didn’t go back in 2015. Davy is now heading into his fifth year but I expect him to go back for another shot in 2021.
He won’t want to leave on that disappointing note.
